The present invention relates generally to an apparatus and method for utilizing electronic information and electronic messaging markets to increase the efficiency in the handling and delivery of mail pieces. In particular, the present invention provides an automated electronic verification system operative at the point of creation of a mail piece, with electronic connections through the Internet or a dedicated intranet to permit customer tracking of mail pieces, data exchange between the Postal service, mass mailers and their customers, and electronic postage reporting and payment. Additionally, enhanced transportation planning and distribution of the mail is provided by the present invention.
A large volume of mail today is produced and/or prepared for distribution and delivery to a customer delivery point by mass producers or mailers, such as banks, credit card management companies, billing departments of retail establishments and mass mailing advertisers, to name a few. Postage discounts are given by the Postal Service to large mailers, who in turn are required pursuant to established rules, to properly address and barcode each mail piece, sort and tray the mail pieces in sequence according to ZIP code, and label each tray as to destination, postage paid, weight, and other information. At present, the U.S. Postal Service has approximately 4,000 employees engaged in the manual verification of mail at 3,500 Business Mail Entry Units (BMEU""s) located in postal facilities, and 800 Detached Mail Units located at various mailers"" facilities who produce large volume mailings. These employees, or acceptance clerks, manually verify mailings for piece counts, present makeup, barcode quality and proper postage, to ensure the mailer is entitled to the postage discount it claims. Failure to follow these procedures can result in major revenue losses to the Postal Service, and these manual verification procedures are time consuming, costly, and lead to error. As a result, there is a need to automate the manual verification process utilized by the Postal Service, and by large mailers, and to account for every mail piece produced on a host mail production machine, such as an inserter.
One such solution is the Automatic Verification Equipment disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/909,640 titled xe2x80x9cAutomatic Verification Equipmentxe2x80x9d, which application is commonly assigned, and which disclosure is incorporated by reference as if set forth herein. The Automatic Verification Equipment of that application is a stand-alone verification unit that weighs sample quantities of bulk mail, captures an image of all address and postage information on each piece of sampled mail, scans a barcode on the tray label submitted by the mailer, and issues a report as to the accuracy of the relevant information submitted by the mailer to support qualification for postage discounts. The Automatic Verification Equipment performs its operation on each mailpiece in one or more randomly selected trays of mail, which are representative of a larger bulk shipment of same or similar mail pieces.
It has been found desirable to provide a system which instead of verifying randomly selected mail piece quantities, verifies the correct postage and address information on each mail piece produced, as well as provide electronic payment of postage, electronic status and tracking of each mailpiece, and provide ease of transportation planning for large productions of bulk mail, either letter mail or flat mail. The present invention performs these functions by weighing each mail piece, and capturing the image of the address information and postage value indicia on, every finished mail piece produced within a mailer""s facility. This total verification of each mail piece enhances the revenue protection of the Postal Service.
In one embodiment, the present invention captures, analyzes, stores and retrieves data pertaining to the weight, delivery point address and postage visible on a face of a mail piece. This data is used to automatically perform mail verification and acceptance processes heretofore performed manually by Postal Service personnel.
In an additional embodiment of the present invention, an automatic weight and image capture system, such as described in the above-mentioned commonly assigned patent application, is connected as a client via a local area network (LAN) to a central server which processes incoming image and weight data, and performs required verification, analysis, diagnostic, reconciliation, data storage, data retrieval and communication functions. Data passed from the automatic weight and image capture system to the central server includes: mail piece image data, mail piece weight, image capture timestamp and the weight and image capture system unique identification number, when provided.
The central server of the present invention maintains a database at the mail piece level containing discreet information relating to each mail piece as to requirements and rules to be followed which are embedded in the system software. The central server also interfaces with the mailer""s computer system(s) used in the generation of the mail pieces, and also provides controlled remote access to Postal Service and manufacturer representatives for diagnostics, data retrieval, software downloads or other designated purposes.
The present system will permit earlier pickup of mailings, in some cases allowing mail to be delivered by road on trucks, rather than by more expensive air transportation. The system of the present invention generates real time mailing data that improves plan loading requirements at the point where the mail is generated. By using the presently disclosed apparatus and method, shipments of large quantities of bulk mail can by-pass local Processing and Distribution Centers (PandDC) maintained in many locations by the Postal Service. Instead, the mail is capable of delivery directly from a mail piece preparation house to a regional or local Post Office for carrier distribution to customer delivery points serviced by that Post Office. Likewise, mail bypasses the Bulk Mail Entry Units (BMEU) since the accuracy of postage data and address information is totally verified at the point of creation of a mail piece.
The present invention also provides the ability for a large mailer to link into the planet code system established by the Postal Service, for example allowing the mailer to track outgoing mail pieces so that the sender of the mail piece can know where that mail piece is, or to track the payment (or non-payment) of invoices by return mail. The planet code is a revised bar code applied to outgoing mail pieces and/or to return envelopes. In one embodiment of the use of the planet code technology, once a return envelope has been mailed and reaches a PandDC operated by the Postal Service, the sortation equipment at the PandDC will read the planet code, and store the information in a database reflecting the entry of that payment envelope into the mail system. The creator of the invoice to which the payment is responsive will have access through the Internet, or through a Postal Service intranet, to that portion of the database containing information solely for that mailer""s access. This enables the mailer to plan the receipt of revenues, and to send out dunning letters faster if the sortation system at the PandDC shows that a payment envelope has not been processed at the PandDC by the date a payment was scheduled. The present invention is the vehicle whereby the outgoing mail can be tracked. This is only one example of the use of planet code technology in association with the total tracking system of mail pieces offered by the present invention.
The present invention also permits the automatic preparation of Postage Summary Reports and reconciliation of these reports to actual physical mailing. This ensures correct postage payments. Additionally, by placing the presently disclosed mail piece weighing and image capture module adjacent the point of completion of each mail piece, mailers have the opportunity to monitor their mailing production process and make corrective actions during the mail""s production if necessary, without waiting until after the mailing production is completed. The present invention also allows complete mail tracking from creation to delivery.
The above and other objects are provided by the present invention, which in one embodiment comprises a mail piece weighing and image capture module disposed in the transport stream of mail pieces, which mail pieces are completed by known inserting apparatus, or similarly known devices, with address information and postage value indicia visible on a face of each mail piece. The weighing and image capture module of the present invention is disposed at or near the point of completion of each mail piece, such that each mail piece traverses the module before being placed in standard or modified mail trays for shipment to a prescribed destination for processing and ultimate delivery to a mail consumer. As each mail piece traverses the weighing and image capture module, the weight of the mail piece is measured and recorded electronically in the database maintained at the mailer""s facility. The image capture device than electronically captures an image of all address information and postage value indicia appearing on the face of each mail piece. This image is digitized and stored in the database as a digital image. According to Postal Service rules and regulations, each mail piece to qualify for a bulk rate discount must display address information and postage value indicia in certain pre-defined areas or sectors of each mailpiece. The computer program operating the mail piece processing system can discern and identify alpha-numeric address information, postage value indicia, barcodes, sort level codes and other data appearing on each mail piece. Non-conforming mail pieces may be rejected and either re-processed or not given postage discounts.
The present invention compares the weight and postage indicia data on each envelope to rules embedded in the operating system of the disclosed apparatus, and the apparatus performs a verification process to ensure that each mail piece conforms to the establish rules. If the verification process is positive, the mail pieces are placed in trays, and the trays are placed on pallets in the disclosed embodiment. The pallets of trays are placed on trucks for delivery to local postal facilities for final sortation and delivery to the consumer. The data stored in the mailer""s database is accessible to the Postal Service, which obtains verification of the proper postage on each mail piece, and can track the progress of each mail piece through the distribution system. The mailer also has the ability to track the delivery progress of its mail pieces, and to obtain additional or replacement postage from the Postal Service by the electronic transfer of funds from the mailer to the Postal Service.
The purpose of the disclosed invention is to improve the electronic connection between business mailers and the Postal Service, that provides a window to mailing information and verification at the point of mail creation on mail insertion systems. The present invention contemplates the installation of a module having an image capture system, a weighing system, and a graphical user interface allowing the module to gather information about each mail piece. This information will be furnished to a central computer which will process the information according to mailing rules associated with the class of mailing and discounts taken for the mailing. The verification system is networked to a mainframe so that the mailing Postage Summary Reports (PSR) are reconciled to the actual mailing created by the inserting equipment. Differences between the mainframe postage reports and the verification modules are reported to the mailer and to the Postal Service for correction. The central computer sends the information, which includes a MAIL.DAT file, for each completed mailing via the Internet to the Postal Service Prompt Payment Processing Center.
The central computer can interface with a tray management system which provides tray content verification by comparing actual weight of the tray to the expected weight of the tray. Under the present invention, tray label quality can also be determined and corrections reported through the central computer. Dispatching information and tray label identification information can be determined and communicated to the Postal Service Dispatching as well as through the central computer.
Other objects and advantages of the subject invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the attached drawings and the detailed description of the illustrated embodiments.